Silicone rubber ironing pad



May ze, 1953 L, N, FOLK L-T AL 2,639,519

SILICONE RUBBER IRONING PAD.

Filed Sept. 5, 1950 INVENTORS ATTORNEYS the bers pliable.

Patented May 26, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SILICONE RUBBERIRONING PAD Laurence N.

Polk and James Hora-ce Goulliette.

Chattanooga, Tenn.

2 Claims.

The present vinvention is directed to that part of' the entire laundryprocess known as ironing.

The present-day method of ironing includes equipment which is generallyknown as a mangio. The mangle includes a buck, in most casescylindrical, mounted for rotation upon a horizontal axisy and a heatedhead pivotally mounted for control contact with the rotating buck. Somemodels do, however, have a flat rectangular buck and a flat rectangularhead. The fabric to be pressed is placed on the buck, and the heatedhead is by hand or by other means brought into contact with the fabric.This model is usually referred to as the scissors type. Now, it isirnportant that the fabric be exposed in some way to moisture to allowthe fibers therein to become more exible. After they have become moreilexble, the pressing action of the head upon the buck smooths the bersand causes them to dry and set in a pressed attitude. The higher thetemperature of the heater;- head the more quickly the fabric is dried,the limiting factor being, of course, the yellowing or scorching of thefabric when the application of heat is continued after the moisture isremoved.

In the past, it was thought desirable to use an absorbent pad in orderto facilitate the escape of moisture from the garment being ironed. Whenthe ironing process was one designed to press cotton and garments ofsynthetic material such as shirts, dresses, etc., the garments weremoistencd prior to ironing,

When the process was designed to press woolen or silk garments, thegarments were moistened by causing steam to now through the pad to makeIn this case, since the steam passed through the pad, the pad did notacccumulate a surplus of moisture so that its absorbency was not ofimportance.

When absorbent pads were used in the abovementioned cotton ironing, itwas necessary to use excessive amounts of moisture in order to obtain asatisfactory smoothing. If insuicient moisture was used, the absor-bencyof the pad caused the garment to dry too rapidly resulting in a roughdried finish. The use of larger amounts of moisture required the use oflarger amounts oi heat .for its vaporisaticn. In the process abovereferred to as the wool process, the absorbency of the pad was of noimportance. Pads of either impervious texture or non-impervious texture,either absorben-t or non-absorbent, could be used. However, the padsused in the prior art, be they impervious or not, absorbent ornon-absorbent, were all subject to disadvantages which greatly reducedthe efiiciency of the ironing operation. Those that are pervious andabsorbent require an'excess of moisture for meistening the garmentsort'he like, with the occurring disadvantage `previously mentioned.Additionally, they had certain disadvantages common also to imperviousand non-absorbent pads which will now be amplified.

It is a common practice to vconduct the ironing process under conditionsof periodic rapid heating to high temperatures of the order of 320 F. to500 F., followed by rapid cooling. The ability of the pad to stand suchhigh temperatures with the following rapid cooling is of greatimportance In the past, many attempts have been made to use naturalrubber and some of the available plastics vas pads in ironers. Thesematerials however, quickly harden, crack and deteriorate under rapidheating and cooling. This deterioration is accompanied. by the releaseof decomposition products which penetrate and adhere to the garmentsbeing ironed giving rise to unpleasant and undesirable odors. Since thesilicone rubbers do not break down, they do not produce unpleasant odorsunder the conditions of normal operation nor do they producedecomposition products which penetrate the garment and destroy thegarments utility.

Other ironing pads in the past were clothed with a fabric made of cottonor similar material. Such material was 'easily scorched anddistintegrated so that reclothing was frequently necessary in many casesat intervals of one week or less. Other ironing pads included metalsprings and wire mats which soon became brittle and broke down under theIrepeated stresses.

Some pads were made of asbestos, iiber glass, jute, and similar fibrousmaterial. These materals, due to the extreme pressure accompanying theironing operation, soon matted down into a compact mass and lost theirresiliency. The resiliency of the paid is of extreme importance:particularly when a superior smooth finish is desired and the garmentincludes buttons, pins, clasps -or the like.

This invention relates to pads made of silicone rubber. Silicone rubberis the name given to one of a number of chemical compounds classified ascondensation polymers and sometimes known as silicones When properlycured, these compounds are in general odorless, hydrophobic, insensitiveto water, and show superior resistance to heat. The silicone rubbersretain their resiliency when repeatedlyheatcd to temperatures as high as500 F. and then cooled to room temperature.

This invention is concerned with the peculiar ability of the siliconerubber pads to retain their resiliency, to conserve the heat transmittedthereto from the heated head, to concentrate the heat on the garmentbeing ironed, the eX treme durability of such pads, their ability towithstand high temperatures and the effect of pressurized strain. Thesesilicone rubber pads eliminate all of the disadvantages of the prior artpads and contribute advantages never heretofore available. The siliconerubber pads are particularly efficient for steam ironers which arenormally operated at temperatures ranging from 320 F. to 350 F. Naturalrubber or other similar plastic materials or cotton-like fabrics areunable to stand up under such high temperatures. It is therefore anobject of this invention to provide an ironing pad which applies a farmore attractive finish to garments ironed on steam ironers or the like.

It must be remembered that although the present invention is hereindescribed with refere ence to a "mangle type ironer, other types arealso contemplated. These other types may include the scissors type thathas previouslybeen explained. Also the instant pads nd applicabilitywith the type referred to in the art as the "cylinder type or the chesttype. Additionally it must be noted that the shape and size of the buckor head is not of importance. It is well within the skill of the art tovary the shape to accommodate certain portions' of the garment such asshirt cuffs, collars, etc.

Another object of this invention is to provide a soft cushion-type padwhich will have superior resiliency and thereby protect, during theironing operations, any ybuttons or other such elements mounted to thegarment.

It is still another object of this invention to provide asoft-cushion-type pad of silicone rubber material which is extremelydurable and practically unaffected by the high operation temperatures soas to eliminate the frequent necessity of reclothing the machines orreplacing the entire pad.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from amore detailed description of the invention.

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a mangle of the type used inpresent day ironing processes;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional View of the mangle buck with an ironingpad constructed in accordance with this invention mounted thereto;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of a pad constructed inaccordance with this invention; l

Figure 4 is a view taken along the line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of another embodiment of thepad constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 6 is a view taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of another embodiment ofthe pad constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention;

Figure 8 is a top plan vieW of another embodiment of the pad constructedin accordance with this invention.

Referring first to Figure l, there is shown a mangle generallydesignated by the numeral I0 having a cylindrical buck II and a heatedhead I2. This mangle is constructed similarly to those ordinarily usedin present day ironing processes.` Of course the buck maybe fiat andsubstantially rectangular in shape, as also may be the heated head.

Referring to Figure 2, the buck I I has mounted thereto a siliconerubber pad I3. This pad is mounted about the cylindrical buck I I. Thepad has a plurality of cup-shaped depressions I4 on the bottom facethereof. As shown in Figure 3, these depressions are located at variouspoints on the bottom of the pad. More or less of these depressions maybe used and their size may be varied to vary the softness of the pads inany ydesired manner, Thus for maximum firmness a solid piece can beused.

As shown in Figure 4, these cup-like depressions are usually madecone-shaped.

What has been shown in Figures 2,13 and 4 is a silicone rubber padhaving an impervious surface. The pad is of solid silicone rubber. Thepad shown in Figures 5 and 6 is a porous silicone sponge rubber pad I5which has had the surface layer removed therefrom to make it absorbent.Also the pad has a plurality of apertures I6 therein to assist inallowing the steam to reach the garment.

Referring to Figure 7, there is shown another embodiment of theinvention. illustrating a pad Il having the surface layer I8 stillintact.

Referring to Figure 8, there is shown a pad I9 of silicone sponge rubberhaving added thereto an impervious strip of solid silicone rubber 20.This combination of a strip of solid silicone rubber near the edges,where the creases of trousers, etc. are formed, with a soft siliconerubber sponge 1n the center where it is desired to raise the nap,provides a most satisfactory arrangement for high speed pressing ofgarments.

What have been illustrated are preferred embodiments of the invention.Other embodiments obvious from these teachings to one skilled in the artare also included within the spirit of the invention and within thescope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pad for mounting to the pressing surface of an ironer, said padcomprising a substantially rectangular sheet of silicone sponge rubber,said sheet having a co-planar narrow piece of solid silicone rubberattached to the end of said sheet at at least one of the short sidesthereof.

2. A substantially rectangular pad for mounting to the pressing surfaceof an ironer that comprises a substantially rectangular sheet ofsilicone sponge rubber, said sheet having a plurality of hollow recessesspaced on the bottom surface thereof extending upwardly from said bottomsurface to adjacent the top surface thereof, said recesses beingconically shaped with the apex of said cone being adjacent the uppersurface of said pad, said sheet having a co-planar narrow piece of solidsilicone rubber attached to the end of said sheet at at least one of theshort sides thereof.

LAURENCE N. POLK. J. HORACE COULLIETTE.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,107,052 Church Feb. 1, 1938 2,125,603 Crockford Aug. 2, 19382,490,981 Reiss et al. Dec. 13, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date612,410 France July 31, 1926

